Tracy Boulian / The Plain DealerBrowns' Jerome Harrison slips past Chiefs' Wallace Gilberry en route to his 28-yard touchdown run in the final minute of Sunday's game in Kansas City. Harrison said he was motivated by a Saturday night chat with Jim Brown. "But just to be mentioned in the same category as (Brown and Jamal Lewis, No. 2 on the all-time single-game rushing list) is a true blessing," Harrison said.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- At halftime Sunday, Eric Mangini jumped all over his team for relying on Josh Cribbs to bail them out with his devastating kickoff returns.

So running back Jerome Harrison, better known as JC, took it upon himself to do something about it.

"JC was like, it ain't gonna happen no more!" said Cribbs. "He was telling me this man to man. He said 'I'm going to pull my weight.' And then he scored three touchdowns. That's phenomenal. He said he was going to do it. He spoke it into existence and it happened just like he said it would."

Not only did Harrison score three times -- from 71, eight and 28 yards -- he put forth the third-highest rushing total in NFL history with 286 yards -- behind only Adrian Peterson's 296 and Jamal Lewis' 295, recorded against the Browns.

It also broke Jim Brown's 48-year-old team record of 237 yards, achieved on two occasions in 1961 and 1957.

Tracy Boulian / The Plain DealerBrian Robiskie celebrated Jerome Harrison's tiebreaking touchdown with 44 seconds left in the game on Sunday.

"That's my man," said a grinning Brown. "He was unbelievable. I've been all over him. We talk all the time and I'm able to tell him when to keep his head up. I always emphasize that he should use his quickness, get north and south as soon as he can and he did that.

"He was a man today. He made his cuts, his acceleration was tremendous, he broke some tackles and he made some people miss. When he got in space, there was no catching him."

Harrison got the second-half JC Show started on the second play from scrimmage when he bolted 71 yards up the middle to put the Browns ahead, 27-24. He followed that with the eight-yarder in the fourth -- courtesy of a fine Lawrence Vickers block -- that increased the lead to 34-24.

With the game tied at 34 and less than a minute remaining, Harrison started around right end and then danced around the goal-line a little to shave some time off the clock. When he realized linebacker Derrick Johnson was closing in, he skated in for the game-winning score with 44 seconds remaining.

"I can't say anything about me without saying things about Lawrence Vickers and the offensive line," said Harrison. "They see me as their little brother. They take extra care of me. I'm only 200 pounds. Jamal is 230. All of my pride goes to those guys. Lawrence Vickers was playing like a madman today. I don't think I did anything special."

Vickers, one of Harrison's good friends, was happy to oblige.

"It's not a surprise to me, not at all," said Vickers. "I've been with JC for 4 1/2 years now since the Senior Bowl in February of '06 and that chemistry started. I think Jim [Brown] over there is a little jealous, too.

Vickers laughed at the thought.

"I'm just playing. Jim is proud of us," he said. "We talk to him all the time. Jim is a very inspirational guy."

Could he be happier for his little buddy?

"I could if he'd got 300," Vickers said.

Harrison admitted he would've loved to have knocked Lewis out of second place on the all-time list. Lewis has helped his conditioning, including runs in sand pits in the sweltering Atlanta sun.

"I wanted to get Jamal -- I will say that," he said. "He's a great guy and has been a great mentor to me. To get him, it would've been awesome. But just to be mentioned in the same category as those other men is a true blessing. Jim [Brown] and I were talking junk [Saturday night] so I was happy to get him too."

The performance comes just four games after Harrison was on the sidelines in street clothes in Detroit, in part because of his suspect blocking. After a heart-to-heart talk with Mangini, the two reached a common ground.

Harrison vowed, among other things, to pick up that part of his game.

"It's ups and downs," said Harrison. "Things don't always go as planned, so the best thing is to keep working hard, keep praying to God and let it fall as it may."

His O-line was thrilled for him, too.

"He was unbelievable," said left tackle Joe Thomas. "The way he would see the crack and be able to explode through it was great. He got better as the game wore on. For me, that's what's great about a running back. To be able to call yourself a great running back, you've got to get better as the game goes on. That's what he did. It's a special day for Jerome and a special day for the line."

He has the Browns record and his place on the all-time list to remember it by.

"I hope he has the record for a long time," said Brown. "It's his to enjoy now."

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.